Phase change vs watercooling - Overclock.net

ennogs · 09-12-09

Which would be better for cooling an overclocked i7? phase change or water cooling?

Are phase change units noisy? Would a phase change unit add a lot more money to my electricity bill?

codejunki · 09-12-09

water cooling. but if your gonna build it yourself. make sure you get coolant for its more heat conductive

d3str0y3r0fn00bs · 09-12-09

Go with water for i7's. water will get you up to 4.4 safely, a single stage phase will get you to 4.5-4.6 at the same voltage, but the power draw and the price of the unit itself is not worth it for an i7, although you can hit 5.0 with a ss the voltage will be way outside the safe limit, you'd have to use a 2 stage cascade or auto cascade to get to 5 somewhat safely and have an $45+ a month to pay for.
Rule of thumb with i7's and cooling is are you willing to pay an extra $300 for 500mhz more at max, if you got an endless wallet by all means go with phase, if you think an extra $300 is way to much for 500mhz or less stick with water cooling.

To be honest if you want my opinion i don't think phase is worth the hassle for i7's for phenom 2's it is worth it, 3 reasons why it's not worth it in this case. #1 meager performance increase for the price, #2 inefficient for performance again(250w+ per hour barely utilized), #3 hassle spending hours insulating and getting set up just for probably 200-300mhz you will get.

Now for your questions, #1 they can be noisy or near dead silent, generally it is the fan that creates the(most) noise, the way to fix this is to go to a bigger condenser and a bigger fan with a lower db rating to get the same performance(or better) with less noise, but will take up more space. The compressor itself is only around 33-40db, wheal the fan can be around 75db max, assuming your using a 120mm fan(4.7inch), if you where to use around a 16inch you'd get under 44db.

Question 2 power consumption. Phase changers will draw quite a bit of energy, most cases 250watts or up to 450watts, a large 4x 120mm rad in push/pull(8 fans) using 1 bigger pump will draw around 75-175watts, and produce a minimum temp of ambient, meaning your performance/BTU(watt) ratio could be relay good or horrible. Phase itself is the most efficient way to produce negative temps and usually more efficient then water cooling even, and between 2-8x more efficient then tecs(not counting under volted tecs which can be many hundreds of times more efficient then phase or any other cooling method, but at the costs of many thousands)

In the end is basically comes up to how deep your wallet is

choose wisely.

systemaxd · 09-12-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by ennogs

Which would be better for cooling an overclocked i7? phase change or water cooling?

Are phase change units noisy? Would a phase change unit add a lot more money to my electricity bill?

Phase is hands down best 24/7 cpu/gpu cooler out there, but it comes at a steep price. A phase unit to hold a i7 will need to be custom made (hire some one to build the unit for you go to XS for this). Estimate around $600 +/- $100 with shipping for one.

They are noisy yes how noisy not sure but estimate around 50dB.
They are expensive to run yes and will add $10-20/month to your electric bill if run 24/7 that is for the unit ONLY.

Water cooling will cost around $150-200 for cpu only loop and for a i7 you would want a 3x120mm radiator. Power consumption on water will be around 3A @12v from PSU.

EDIT: d3str0y3r0fn00bs summed up the phase end fairly well.

MR_Plow · 09-12-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by d3str0y3r0fn00bs

#2 inefficient for performance again(250w+ per hour barely utilized), #3 hassle spending hours insulating and getting set up just for probably 200-300mhz you will get.

...

Phase itself is the most efficient way to produce negative temps and usually more efficient then water cooling even, and between 2-8x more efficient then tecs(not counting under volted tecs which can be many hundreds of times more efficient then phase or any other cooling method, but at the costs of many thousands)

This seems a little contradictory, no?

ennogs · 09-12-09

thanks

zipdogso · 09-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by systemaxd

A phase unit to hold a i7 will need to be custom made (hire some one to build the unit for you go to XS for this). Estimate around $600 +/- $100 with shipping for one.

Not anymore....custom commissions are banned..

Prebuilt units in FS section only.

And anyway why the cheapskate ? It costs getting on for that just for the parts for a SS with no charge for time - you have no idea how long it takes to built a phase unit. That's why those guys got fed up with doing it on the cheap.....and who can blame really....BUT if they charged a proper price and had a legal contract would you of bought the unit then ???? Nuf said.

NETio · 09-14-09

No, that was not contradictory. Phase is the most efficent way to NEGATIVE temperatures. TECs are just not practical anymore, they take inefficency to whole new levels (unless properly undervolted) and they still can't touch the temperatures of a well tuned phase unit. Water cooling is great for everyday use, SS phase is great for that extra bit of OC'ing and a few higher runs every now and then (but still not that practical for 24/7 use), cascade phase systems are for straight benching and suicide runs but something like a 5 stage cascade can get you down below -150 easy

utnorris · 09-21-09

If you want a phase unit go here:

http://www.under-the-ice.com/index.p...2bbb0dab78cf6f

He does really nice work. Keep in mind with phase you will need to insulate. If you want a cheaper, simpler way to get colder temps without going sub-zero then look into doing a chiller. I made mine out of an AC unit and my total cost was around $150, plus I had fun builing it. Here is a link to my build if you are interested:

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...tnorris&page=2

I have gone down to -10c, but I run mine 24/7 at right above the dew point keeping my I7 idling close to ambient and load is around 50c. It's only loud when it cycles, which it does about every 10 minutes, but only for about a minute and a half if that. You can sound deadend them to cut down on the noise, but it isn't any louder than a window AC, since that is what it pretty much is. No special skills really needed to build one.

09-12-09	#1 (permalink)
ennogs New to Overclock.net Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 27 Rep: 7 Unique Rep: 6 Trader Rating: 0	Phase change vs watercooling Which would be better for cooling an overclocked i7? phase change or water cooling? Are phase change units noisy? Would a phase change unit add a lot more money to my electricity bill?

09-12-09	#6 (permalink)
ennogs New to Overclock.net Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 27 Rep: 7 Unique Rep: 6 Trader Rating: 0	thanks thanks

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Phase change vs watercooling

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